


Piano Man

by lambicpentametre



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Eventual Blaine Anderson/Sebastian Smythe, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2015-11-25
Packaged: 2018-04-13 05:39:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4509915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lambicpentametre/pseuds/lambicpentametre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blaine Anderson is starting his sixth year at Hogwarts, and it's going to be perfect. He's a prefect, he's doing well in school, and he has a loving boyfriend. But when he finds a strange room that appears and disappears with a beautiful piano inside, he finds that his year may not turn out as he planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Scarf Debacle

**Author's Note:**

> Written for for Day 4 of Seblaine Week 2015.

Blaine Anderson had just had the most wonderful train ride to Hogwarts ever. He'd spent most of it entwined in his boyfriend's warm embrace before his fellow sixth year Hufflepuff prefect Marley Rose had dragged him off to the prefect's carriage at the front of the train for the first meeting of term. He'd changed into his uniform there, knowing his own yellow-accented robes would beautifully compliment the green of his boyfriend's. Sure, his friends had had some misgivings about him dating a Slytherin, but after they had danced around each other for years, they were mostly relieved they wouldn't have to deal with Blaine losing track of time, lost in the eyes of the love of his life.

Yes, Blaine Anderson was set to have a wonderful sixth year at Hogwarts. He knew it wouldn't be any less than perfect, because he was a prefect and in love with Kurt Hummel.

Blaine met up with Kurt as the train was coming into the station. Kurt linked his arm in Blaine's, and they made their way down to the carriages. Boarding one, Blaine was disappointed to find his classmate Sebastian Smythe seated in the bench opposite the one Kurt had just seated himself in.

“Hey, Killer,” Sebastian greeted. “How was your summer holiday?” he said with a smirk. Blaine didn't know much about Sebastian, other than that he was one of the star players on Slytherin's Quidditch team, and he seemed to live to hit on Blaine and annoy Kurt. The conversations they had had over the years involved countless innuendos and offers for dinner that Blaine always shot down; he was head over heels in love with Kurt, after all. The fact that Kurt and Sebastian were housemates irked Kurt to no end, and Sebastian shared the same thoughts. It was about the only thing they seemed to agree on, besides the beauty of Blaine Anderson, or so Sebastian said.

“My summer was fine, Sebastian. How was yours?” Blaine answered politely. Kurt's grip on his arm tightened angrily.

“Absolutely brilliant, Killer, though I do believe it would have been better with you,” Sebastian said smugly, stretching his arms behind his head as the carriage started rolling.

“And how about you, Hummel? How was your excursion to your family across the pond?” Kurt glared at the taller boy, and Blaine prayed to every deity he could think of that they would arrive at the castle in one piece.

“My trip was fine, thanks very much, Smythe,” Kurt replied shortly. Sebastian laughed lightly, causing Blaine's heart to flutter. Even though he was _very much in love_ with Kurt, he couldn't deny there was something alluring about Sebastian.

“Calm down, Hummel, I was only trying to make conversation,” Sebastian said. “You don't have to be so rude about it.”

“I'm rude because I know something unsavory is going to come out of your mouth like it always does, Smythe. I've seen where that dirty thing has been, and I've got no interest in messing with you,” Kurt told him.

“That's just as good, Hummel, because you're not really my type. I'm more into guys, you see,” Sebastian said teasingly.

Kurt huffed. “And there it is,” he said under his breath.

“So I'm assuming your step-mother's attempts to pull that stick out of your ass failed, then?” Sebastian replied with a smirk.

Kurt rolled his eyes. “Do you just talk because you like to hear the sound of your own voice, or is there a point to your vocal chords?” he said bitingly.

Sebastian laughed. “Well, besides the obvious of my voice is a lovely thing to listen to unlike your high-pitched annoyance and everyone loves to hear how wrecked my vocal chords get after I've gone down on them, voices are often used to communicate spoken words to other people, granted that they listen. Honestly, Hummel, I thought you would know this, but maybe I'm just overestimating how many friends you actually have outside of Blaine and how much they actually listen to whatever hippogriff shit you spout constantly.

“I was actually using my vocal chords to speak to God the other night, since we've often had cases of mistaken identity; people just keep mistaking me for him when I'm in bed with them, see. We were having this lovely discussion, and we turned to the topic of the Devil's tendency to steal things. So I've got to ask, did Satan steal your sense of style? Because that Versace with that uniform is a crime against all things good and holy, and that scarf deserves so much better than that,” Sebastian mocked with a hint of disgust.

“Smythe, I'll have you know this scarf is the height of fashion,” Kurt said defensively “It's a bold choice, and we all know I wear it better than you wear your bland Burberry.”

“Please, Hummel. At least my Burberry is color coordinated with the uniform, and I can't tell if your audacity to wear orange and gray makes you stupid or just delusional. I never make the sin of wearing my plaid with the jumpers. We all know that plaid with stripes, no matter how few, is an unforgivable fashion faux pas. That orange monstrosity looks like something my grandmother's cat puked up, especially sitting on top of those green accents. Salazar would be so disappointed in you, defiling the great house of Slytherin like that,” Sebastian bit back.

“Didn't your parents ever teach you manners, Smythe. Did they teach you to respect your elders? Last I checked, I was a seventh year and you were a sixth year,” Kurt replied.

The taller boy smirked. “Why, of course my parents taught me manners, dear Lady Hummel. I'm not a complete heathen, even if I am gay as hell. I do respect my elders, but any respect I had for you flew out the window when you besmirched the good name of Hogwarts and the sanctity of Versace with that outfit you call 'bold.' I personally think it's a reflection of your true self: laughably ridiculous and terribly mismatched. But you must be seriously lacking the spirit you so love to flaunt to all of us if the best defense you can come up with is seniority. We all know that's not how it works in Slytherin, and let's face it, when it comes down to who people are going to side with, it's me and not you. That's the difference between us; people like me and actually want to be around me,” he said.

Kurt's face was turning red in anger. Sebastian only laughed in response. “Cat got your tongue, Hummel?”

Blaine glared at the taller boy. “Sebastian, back off. It's none of your business,” he said in a warning tone. Sebastian looked at him, smirk slowly sliding off his face. He nodded slightly in affirmation before opening up his copy of _Hogwarts, A History_ and ignoring the couple for what little was left of the ride to the castle. He was the first one out of the carriage, not even waiting for it to come to a complete stop before he was jumping out and swaggering up to the Great Hall.

Blaine and Kurt took their time gathering their bags before they dismounted the carriage and began the trek to the castle. Blaine had to admit that every part of Hogwarts was breathtaking even after all this time; he couldn't imagine _not_ being impressed by the grandeur of the castle. He knew that Kurt must be having a hard time, seeing as this would be his last welcome feast, but he couldn't shake the feeling that Kurt was still upset about the unsavory meeting they'd had with Sebastian on the way to the castle.

Grabbing Kurt's hand and swinging it comically, he grinned at his boyfriend and spun him around. “Kurt, forget about Sebastian. He's just a bully who doesn't deserve your thoughts. Be happy! We're finally back together after your trip to your step-mother's, it's the welcome feast, and it's the start of a new year! We can do whatever we want to, babe. This will be our year,” he soothed.

Kurt smiled slightly, the curve of his lips small and the happiness not quite reaching his eyes. “I know, Blaine. Come on, we're almost there!” he said, nearly skipping up the stairs to the entrance hall. Blaine smiled fondly; he'd never get tired of his boyfriend's boundless energy. It was what made him so unique.

The two boys parted ways at the doors to the Great Hall, as it was an unwritten rule that students would sit with their own houses at mealtimes. Kurt went across the Hall to the Slytherin table, while Blaine found his way to the general area of the Hufflepuff sixth years, eventually settling down next to his friend Marley Rose.

“Hey, stranger,” she greeted. “You were in such a rush off the train I didn't get a chance to talk to you.”  
  
Blaine grinned sheepishly. “Sorry, Marley. I was just so excited to be here again, and I had to find Kurt. I guess I didn't notice how rude I was being,” he replied.

“It's alright,” she said brightly. “Now tell me all about your summer!”

He clapped his hands together, eyes bright. “Oh, it was amazing, Marley. Kurt and I spent the first part of summer at my family's house in Ireland. It was so much fun! We went for walks on the beach every day, and I even learned how to weave a flower crown! Kurt had to spend the last three weeks of summer with his step-mother in Ohio, though, but it was alright. My brother flew in from California, so I was able to catch up with him, and Kurt brought me back three boxes of vintage postcards from when he and his step-brother Finn cleaned out the attic,” Blaine said excitedly.

She laughed, hugging him and resting her chin on his right shoulder. “That sounds wonderful, Blaine. Your boyfriend doesn't look too great over there, though. Is he alright?” she replied.

Blaine's face fell, his mouth curving into something between a perplexed twist and a frown. “Not really,” he said after a moment. “We ended up in the same carriage as Sebastian Smythe. You know, the Slytherin Quidditch player in our year? He and Kurt kind of got into an argument, and it didn't end well. I think Kurt's nursing a bruised ego, to be quite honest,” he explained. Marley smiled sympathetically.

“I'm sure he'll be fine. Sebastian will be knocked down a couple of pegs one of these days; you can't stay on top forever. And anyway, Kurt has got you. That's something to be happy about,” she said brightly. Blaine hugged her in response and was about to thank her, but Professor McGonagall walked in with the first years, signaling the start of the Sorting Ceremony. The two Hufflepuff prefects turned to face forward, watching as the small eleven year old boys and girls got their first glimpse of the Great Hall.

About an hour later, the last of the first years had been sorted. Dumbledore finally began the feast, and Blaine was reminded of how wonderful the food at Hogwarts was. He and Marley continued recounting their summers over dinner. He found out that she too had taken a trip to America to see where her parents met, and she had loved every minute of it. He laughed so hard when one of the Gryffindor boys jumped up on the table and started singing Journey's “Don't Stop Believin'” like it was the last thing he'd do. McGonagall looked like she was about ready to burst, but Dumbledore was laughing along with the rest of the students.

Once everything had settled down and the dessert course was on its way, Marley turned to Blaine again. “So why exactly did Kurt and Sebastian fight?” she asked tentatively.

Blaine swallowed the last bit of the chicken he was eating and cleared his throat. “You know Kurt likes to be bold with his fashion choices,” he said, watching her nod in affirmation. “He got this Versace scarf while he was in America, and Sebastian said it was one of the worst things he'd ever seen. I love Kurt, I really do, but I have to agree with Sebastian. It was this bright orange and pink silk piece that just didn't go with his Slytherin robes. He's my boyfriend, and I'll stand by his decisions, but Sebastian said it looked like something his grandmother's cat puked up, and I can't say that he was wrong to describe it that way,” he explained. Marley was barely hiding her laugh, and Blaine smiled in response.

“Did he really wear an orange scarf with his robes?” she asked, scandalized. When he nodded, she shrieked in delight. “Oh, that's hilarious! I mean I know he's your boyfriend, and I'm your friend, but still, an orange scarf with a Hogwarts uniform! That's bold! Kudos to him for being able to pull it off!” Blaine laughed along with her. After they had calmed down and their sides were aching, Marley turned serious again.

“So how did it end? I've heard that Sebastian can be pretty brutal when he's on a rampage,” she said.

Blaine pressed his lips together slightly. “It actually wasn't too bad,” he said, after thinking for a moment. “Kurt looked like he was about to commit homicide, so I told Sebastian to back off, and he did. He didn't even wait for the carriage to stop before he jumped out.”

Marley looked at him in awe. “And he just stopped because you asked him to? Just like that? Blaine, you must have the magic touch, no pun intended. I've never heard anyone say that _Sebastian Smythe_ would just back down like that, no questions asked,” she said.

Blaine didn't know what to say. Sebastian had always stopped whenever Blaine asked him to, even before he was dating Kurt; it wasn't out of the ordinary for an exchange like that to happen between the two sixth year boys, but Marley wouldn't lie to him about something like that. Before he could say anything more, he and the other prefects were rounded out of the Hall to guide the first years back to their dormitories.

Two hours later, Blaine was finally able to collapse into his own bed, but Marley's words hadn't left his thoughts. If Sebastian really only ever stopped for Blaine, then what did that say about their relationship? Did Sebastian really want to take Blaine out to dinner all those times he had asked over the years? How would Kurt react to this information?

Blaine fell asleep to dreams of Sebastian Smythe courting him like an old-fashioned gentleman would, dinners and dances and goodnight kisses on the steps of an old Victorian home. When he woke up in the morning, he was almost ashamed that he had been dreaming of the taller boy rather than Kurt. Resolving to put Sebastian out of mind, Blaine jumped out of bed, ready to face the day with his loving boyfriend and enjoy the first day of his sixth year at Hogwarts.

Life was hardly so perfect, though.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! This is an idea I have had for a few years now, and I'm so happy to finally be able to use it. Thanks to my friend Alex for being my sounding board. As always, feel free to ask me any questions at my writing blog lambicpentametre.tumblr.com.


	2. The Supper Scene

The first few weeks of term passed quickly. Blaine soon found himself drowning in potions essays for Professor Snape, prefect rounds, and Professor Flitwick's choir practices. Between his schedule and Kurt's own crazy revisions, the two had hardly found time to even talk in the past three weeks. It was beginning to weigh down on their relationship; even though Blaine had spent most of the previous year of their relationship camped out in the library preparing for his OWLs, Kurt was taking the NEWTs, and Blaine knew his boyfriend couldn't afford to do any less than perfect this entire year.

Blaine found himself wandering the hallowed halls of Hogwarts one un-extraordinary Thursday afternoon. The Head Girl Quinn Fabray had just passed out a new route for the rounds that he and Marley would be doing come Monday, and they had agreed it would be a good idea to case the new area. The new plans had Blaine passing through the left corridor on the seventh floor, a place he had never really thought he'd find students wandering in the dead of night. Then again, maybe that was why Quinn had changed up the plans; she was Head Girl for a reason, after all.

As he was walking past the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, Blaine tripped over a stray tile jutting out of the floor. Grumbling to himself, he picked up his map of the new route from where it had flown out of his hand. A gust of wind blew it in the other direction before he could grasp it, so Blaine picked himself up off of his knees and went to fetch the map. It blew away again, back to where it had been in the first place, and Blaine followed it. _I really need to work off this stress_ , he thought to himself. _If only Hogwarts had a piano; I miss my Yamaha._

Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling from behind the tapestry. Blaine jumped back, pulling out his wand. Hogwarts was the safest place on Earth, but you could never tell what was hiding behind its locked doors.  
  
“Peeves! I know you're back there! Come out or I'll get the Baron!” Blaine called out. After a few moments without any reply or childish giggling, Blaine cautiously made his way to the tapestry, puling it back gently. He found a glossed wooden door, one he knew hadn't been there before. Quinn hadn't marked it on her maps, either. Gingerly pushing it open, Blaine was shocked to find a beautiful practice room behind it. The floors were a finished sandalwood; the five windows were beautiful floor-to-ceiling French style that the afternoon sun shone through, allowing the light to dance across the forest green curtains and rugs. In the middle of the room sat a Yamaha grand piano, just like the one Blaine had at home. The perfection of the room took his breath away; Hogwarts knew exactly what to give him exactly when he needed it. Above the five windows, there was a carving. Upon closer inspection, Blaine found it to be one of Dumbledore's favorite sayings: “Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who need it.”

Sitting himself down at the piano bench, Blaine played through all of his favorites; Debussy's “Golliwog's Cakewalk” and “Clair de Lune,” Beethoven's “Moonlight Sonata,” and his guilty pleasure Lloyd Webber's “The Music of the Night.” He had no idea how long he sat there, but by the time he was finished and his fingers were aching, Blaine felt much better. He shut the piano lid gently and made his way out of the room. Blaine could hear the sounds of the other students returning from dinner down the hall. Realizing that he had been in the room much longer than he originally thought, Blaine flew down the staircases to find Kurt waiting for him at the entrance to the Great Hall.

“Where have you been?” Kurt asked, annoyed. “I've been waiting here for half an hour!”

Blaine shrank into himself at Kurt's condescending tone. “I'm sorry, babe, I got held up casing the new route for rounds Marley and I will be doing next week. I didn't mean to keep you waiting so long, but I found this _amazing_ room up on the seventh floor, and—”

“Blaine, I don't want your excuses. You forgot, I get it. Let's just head to dinner,” Kurt huffed. He turned on his heel and stalked into the Great Hall, seating himself at the Slytherin table. Blaine followed him quietly, knowing his boyfriend could be hotheaded at times, sadly going to the Hufflepuff table. He knew Kurt just needed to take a breather; he'd tell Kurt about the Piano Room after dinner. Happy with his decision, Blaine turned towards his dinner plate, until it was slid out from under his fork.

“Well, what do we have here? What's a sweet little badger like you pouting like he's in a den of snakes?” a voice asked. Blaine looked up to find seventh year Santana Lopez smirking at him, hand on his plate.

“Please give it back, Santana,” Blaine said in an exasperated tone. “I just want to eat my dinner in peace.”

“Not so fast, Little B,” Santana said, sliding the plate even farther out of his reach. Kurt had turned from his dinner to glare at Santana across the Hall, throwing Blaine even more. Kurt and Santana might not have been the best of friends, but they still were on fairly good terms, as far as Blaine was aware. Kurt stood up and made his way over to Blaine and Santana, standing behind his boyfriend.

“What do you want, Santana?” Kurt said bitingly. “I wasn't aware you were going to grace us mere mortals with your presence this evening.”  
  
Santana rolled her eyes. “Calm down, Hummel. I'm not here to steal your boyfriend's virginity or something equally as awful or heterosexual. No, I was actually here to give him the shovel talk, because my little sixth year bitchlet has had moon eyes for your boy here for way too long, and I'm tired of hearing him complain about it. So you better do something about it, Little Badger, because if I have to spend one more night listening to the sappy shit that comes out of my protege's mouth whenever you're mentioned, I will come after you in the night with an ice pick and a team of giant spiders and destroy you,” she said. Blaine was taken aback; Santana was a girl no one dared cross, and hearing her threats did absolutely nothing to calm him down from his earlier skirmish with Kurt.

“Back off, Santana, we're still dating, in case you hadn't realized,” Kurt replied in a low voice.

“Oh, are you now? That little argument before dinner wasn't enough to kill your non-existent and monogamous sex life?” Santana said maliciously. “Because it looked to me like you were the one who made the call that the discussion was over, Hummel. Little Badger here definitely looked like he wanted to say more, but you didn't give him the chance to. Now what kind of cutesy couple does that? Aren't you supposed to be listening to each other's problems and pouring your hearts out every other hour?”

“That's none of your business, Santana. And why do you care anyway?” Kurt told her. Blaine knew his boyfriend was about ready to stab a fork into Santana's face. There went his peaceful night.

“I told you, my bitchlet is an interested party, and I just wanted you to know,” she answered.

Kurt looked annoyed. “Who the hell is he? And since when did you have a protege?”

“I've had a protege since he successfully outwitted Snape and blamed Peeves for his water bucket prank two years ago, and you know who he is, Hummel, he's— well, that's none of your business anyway. Look, here comes your favorite person, Hummel!” Santana exclaimed. Entering the Great Hall Kurt's least favorite Hogwarts student, Sebastian Smythe. He plopped himself down next to Santana, shamelessly taking a bite of Blaine's dinner.

“What's up, Doc?” he greeted. “Why are we hanging here?” If looks could kill, Sebastian would have been six feet under three times over, judging from Kurt's tense posture. Sebastian only grinned in response.

“Why are you here, Smythe?” Kurt said through gritted teeth.

“As far as I was aware, Hummel, the Great Hall is a public place. You're welcome to go eat in the owlery. No one would see you there anyway, you'd blend in with all the bird shit,” he said with a smile. Kurt began to take a step forward, but Blaine grabbed his arm. Kurt turned his glare towards Blaine before ripping his arm out of the Hufflepuff's grasp and angrily crossing his arms. Sebastian and Santana took notice of the exchange, raising their eyebrows.

“Trouble in paradise, Killer?” Sebastian said lightly. “I know you must be waiting to burst in that little hobbit form of yours, so why don't you tell me all about it tomorrow morning in Potions? Cheers, San, I've got to head to Quidditch practice now. Hunter's gone batshit crazy about this upcoming match with Ravenclaw. Thanks for the plate!” With that, Sebastian swept away Blaine's dinner plate and headed out the Hall. Santana merely smirked.

“I'll just leave you two love birds to it then, shall I? See you later, Hummel,” she said, long hair sweeping across the table as she swung her legs over the bench.

Blaine grabbed another plate, keeping his head down.

“Blaine,” Kurt began in a low voice. “Do you mind telling me what Smythe was talking about when he said, 'You can tell me about it tomorrow morning in Potions?'” Blaine shrunk into his seat. _This is definitely going to go well, nice job Anderson_ , he thought to himself.

Sheepishly, Blaine said, “Well, uh, he's my Potions partner? Snape assigned us inter-house partners a few days after term began, and Sebastian ended up being mine.”

“Why didn't you tell me then!” Kurt said, outraged.

Again, Blaine turned his head to his empty dinner plate. “I tried to tell you, but it never really came up, and we were always talking about your NEWTs. I figured you wouldn't care about my Potions partner anyway,” he explained.

“Blaine! Of course I care! I'm your boyfriend, I need to hear about everything that's going on in your life! Especially if it involves that Smythe brat. He's no good, Blaine, you need to stay away from him. I'll talk to Snape and get him to change your partner, anyone would be better for you than _him_ ,” Kurt said quickly.

“Kurt,” Blaine said softly. “I know you're concerned, but I can handle myself. I've been paired with him for three weeks now, and nothing's happened. I promise if he tries something, I'll tell Snape and get another partner. Just trust me,” he soothed.

Kurt was still pouting. “No. I don't trust that scumbag to not try something. You're coming with me down to the dungeons after dinner and we're going to get this sorted out,” he declared, turning around to head back to the Slytherin table. Blaine was shocked; never had Kurt been so untrusting and inconsiderate of Blaine's independence.

“No,” he said. Kurt turned to look at him. “No! I'm not going to let you make a big deal out of nothing, Kurt! Sebastian flirts with me, so what? He flirts with nearly everything that moves, and I'm not going to leave you just because he bats his eyes at me! Don't you believe in my love for you?” He stood up, pushing the bench backwards. Everyone turned to look at him, the din of conversation quieting to the silence of a cathedral.

“Blaine, you're making a scene,” Kurt whispered, tugging Blaine's robes. Blaine jerked his sleeve out of Kurt's grasp.

“No. If you don't believe in me, then I don't see a reason to stay here. I'll see you tomorrow morning, Kurt. We'll talk then.” Blaine turned on his heel and walked out of the Great Hall, chin held high.

He made his way to the Hufflepuff common room, striding purposefully towards the kitchens. Just before he could round the corner to the barrels that guarded the Hufflepuff commons, he was ambushed by a pair of arms and dragged into one of the more spacious broom closets of the castle.

“What is this?” he asked angrily. “I'm a prefect, you've really done yourself in now, I'll give you detention with Filch for—” He was interrupted by a hand that was slapped over his mouth.

“Calm down, Little Badger, it's just your favorite gay Slytherin here,” Santana said. “Well, I'd assume I'm your favorite now, seeing as there _is_ in fact trouble in paradise and my little twink partner-in-crime Sebastian seems to be the cause of the trouble. Now, why don't you tell your fairy godmother exactly what is going on between you and your Lady, and I'll tell you what I'll do,” she explained, slowly taking her hand off of Blaine's mouth.

“Santana, with all due respect, please stay out of my love life,” Blaine replied. Santana shook her head.

“No can do, Little B. My protege will be crying about you for days if I tell him I didn't do something about Lady Hummel for you. Now listen to me: are you staying with Kurt because he's a scary Slytherin who's older than you and you fear the retribution that awaits when you leave him?” she asked.

“What? No! Of course not, Santana, I _love_ him!” Blaine exclaimed.

She shook a finger at him. “Little B, you probably only think you're in love with him. Sure, you had a great relationship last year, but things change. You're not equals in your relationship anymore; I saw what he did to you before dinner and judging by how fast you were walking, I'm assuming you got into another fight after I left. Just know that if you do decide to leave Kurt because you have a toxic relationship, I will keep you safe. You won't have to worry about Kurt or whatever cronies he can dredge up harassing you because you're his ex. I will make sure of it,” she replied.

“Santana, that's very sweet of you, but like I told Kurt, I can handle myself. Thank you for the offer,” he said, sliding out of her grasp and opening the door. He straightened out his robes and returned to his original course back to his common room.

The night certainly hadn't turned out the way he'd thought it would.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! This chapter is dedicated to Alex, whom I ran into a door on the last day of summer. Feel free to send me any questions you have at lambicpentametre.tumblr.com.


	3. The Common Room Conference

The next morning found Blaine still as conflicted as the night before about his fights with Kurt and the discussion he had with Santana. Rolling out of bed, he donned his uniform and robes, perfecting his tie and slipping on his shoes before he headed out of the sixth year boys' dormitory. The rest of his bunkmates were still asleep; it had been a long week. Blaine knew he had had a long week, anyway. As always, he was in the Great Hall at 7:15, drinking his tea over the most recent publishing of the  _Daily Prophet_ .

“ Morning Badger Boy!” a booming voice greeted. Blaine looked up from Rita Skeeter's latest column to see his friend Sam Evans sliding across the floors to sit with Blaine. Sam was a Gryffindor Blaine had befriended in Astronomy third year, and  they had become great friends since then. Apart from Kurt, Sam was Blaine's confidant and sidekick, although Sam often said Blaine was his sidekick.

Blaine smiled. “What is it with everyone calling me 'Badger' lately? First Santana, and then you! What's with that?” he said.

Sam grinned widely and swiped a piece of Blaine's toast. “Maybe it's because you're so small like a badger, and you're a 'Puff. How's it been, buddy?” Sam replied.

“Awful,” Blaine groaned. “ Kurt and I fought last night at dinner.”  
  
“Yeah, I heard about that,” Sam said sympathetically. “How are you holding up?” 

“Not too well. He doesn't trust me, Sam. He think that I'm going to cheat on him with Sebastian since we're Potions partners. Doesn't he know that my love for him is stronger than whatever Sebastian can throw at me? And then after that, Santana ambushed me in the halls and told me that she doesn't think my relationship with Kurt is healthy anymore. She asked me if I was staying with him because I didn't want to make him unhappy and be attacked by Slytherins. Does no one believe that I'm actually in love with Kurt except for me?” he complained.

“ Buddy, I heard all about it from Marley last night. I get that you lo v e Kurt, but are you absolutely certain you don't want to at least take a break? You guys have been going strong for over a year, maybe it's time you just take a step back before you jump in head first,” Sam suggested.

“Sam! You're supposed to be on my side!” Blaine exclaimed, standing up. “If you don't believe me, then I'm just going to go. I'll see you in Herbology.”

_ So that's it then _ , he thought.  _ No one thinks I'm good enough for Kurt _ . Furiously wiping tears from his face, Blaine made his way up to the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy again, but when he pushed back the weaving, the door was gone. He couldn't believe it. Not only was this turning out to be the worst morning ever, now he couldn't even play out his stress. Sighing, Blaine went back the way he came and continued down to the dungeons for his Potions lesson.

Dropping into his seat, Blaine put his  head on the desk. Having Potions first on a Friday was a death sentence on its own, but having Potions on a Friday after an exhausting evening with your boyfriend and his frenemy had to be the seventh circle of Hell.

“What's up, Partner?” Sebastian said as he sat down. “You look blue today.”

“Go away, Sebastian. I'm not in the mood today,” Blaine said, words muffled into his sleeves. He could almost see his partner smirking in response, innuendo on his tongue.

“Suit yourself, Killer. Just don't fall asleep. I'd hate to see that perfect gel job of yours ruined by Snape's greasy hands,” Sebastian said. Blaine could feel the fabric of Sebastian's robes swishing past that of Blaine's own robes  and heard the sound of the stool scraping across the stone floor , as if the taller boy had just slid away from him. Peeking out from his robes, Blaine could see that Sebastian had in fact  moved his  seat farther from Blaine than usual.

“What are you doing?” he said in a small voice, attracting Sebastian's attention. He turned to Blaine, an almost puzzled gaze on his face.

“What do you mean, Killer?” Sebastian asked.

Blaine sat up a little. “I mean why are you so far away now?” he clarified. Sebastian's eyes widened in understanding.

“Oh that,” he said. “You said you weren't in the mood, so I'm giving you space.”

“Oh,” Blaine replied. “ But why? You usually never stop pestering me.” In all honesty, he was slightly confused. He'd never known Sebastian to back down from anything, let alone stop hitting on him.  Marley had made the point that Blaine appeared to be an exception when Sebastian Smythe's determination was concerned, however.

“Killer,” Sebastian began. “You said you weren't in the mood, and I believe you. You look like hell, and that gel job of yours isn't exactly right like it usually is. Everyone's talking about what happened with you and Hummel last night. You asked me to not say anything, so this is me not saying anything.”  
  
Blaine was taken aback. He sat up straight, turning to face Sebastian. “But you never stop flirting with me,” he said, confused.

Sebastian only smiled. “Is that an invitation to compliment your ass?” he said  with a wink . At Blaine's blush, Sebastian turned more serious. “Blaine, you said you didn't want to listen to me. I can understand that, really.  You only need to tell me that I'm bothering you, and I'll back off. If I don't, I give you full permission to sic Santana and your boyfriend on me and tear my heart out.”

“You can never just leave the nice moment on its own, can you?” Blaine teased. “You've got to just make it light with jokes and everything.”

Sebastian grinned. “Of course, Killer. I do have a reputation to uphold, after all.”

“Mr. Anderson! Mr. Smythe! If you would deign to turn your attention to the front of the room, I am trying to teach you worthless worms something of worth!” Professor Snape chastised. Sebastian shot one more smirk in Blaine's direction, which caused his heart to flutter. He never could stop smiling when Sebastian was around.

After Snape had given them their instructions for the day and had turned them loose on their cauldrons, Blaine found himself lost in thought as he stirred his potion. He had to find that piano room again, but he had to speak to Kurt as well. At some point, he must have started humming, as Sebastian broke the companionable silence that had fallen between them to ask about it.

“Billy Joel?” Sebastian questioned, his eyebrows cocked.

“Huh?” Blaine replied, his mind not quite out of the lull it had been in.

“You're humming Billy Joel,” Sebastian repeated. “'Uptown Girl,' if I'm not mistaken.”

Blaine was impressed; Sebastian didn't seem like the type to know Billy Joel. “Look at you, Sebastian Smythe,” Blaine replied, a cheeky grin on his face. “Who would have thought that a pureblood like you would have such a knowledge of Muggle music to be able to name me the artist and name of the song I'm humming.”

Sebastian shrugged. “I had to find some way to annoy my father after he found out I was gay. My sexual preferences just weren't enough after a while, and Muggle music isn't half bad,” he explained.

“It really isn't,” Blaine replied. “I'm more of a 'Piano Man' guy, though 'Uptown Girl' isn't a bad song.”

“You would be a 'Piano Man,'” Sebastian said teasingly. He turned back to his own cauldron, and that appeared to be the end of that conversation.

The rest of Potions passed without incident. Sebastian stayed true to his word and left Blaine alone for the most part, only pausing to ask if  bursting mushrooms or mistletoe berry were used for fire protection. Once the lesson was finished, Blaine carefully packed his bag and was about to head to History of Magic, but he was stopped by Sebastian.

“Hey, Killer, I know I'm not exactly your favorite person, but you need to let loose. Have lunch with me, and you can tell me about everything  that's going on. You've got to tell someone what's on your mind, and I promise I won't make any passes at you ,” Sebastian said. If Blaine wasn't mistaken, there was a slight edge to his voice, one Blaine would have  called nervous, if he thought the word “nervous” was in Sebastian's vocabulary.

“I don't think that's a good idea,” Blaine said, uncertain. “Kurt's still mad about me not telling him we were partners, I don't want to give him any reason to think I'm actually going behind his back.”  
  
Sebastian's shoulders slumped. “Alright, Killer. Have a nice day,” he said before striding out of Snape's room to his next class. Blaine couldn't quite put his finger on Sebastian's attitude, but it certainly hadn't been as confident as it usually was. If he was being honest with himself, as soon as he told Sebastian he didn't want to have lunch, there was a feeling of disappointment settling in his stomach.

_ Maybe Sam was right _ , he thought.  _ Maybe I do need to take a break from Kurt. _ Blaine shook those thoughts out of his mind,  heading to Binns's classroom. Even after the most boring retelling of the Goblin Wars nearly put him to sleep, Blaine still couldn't shake the feeling that he should have said yes to Sebastian. Resolving to talk to  him soon, Blaine made his way to the Great Hall for lunch.

“Little Badger!” Santana called from the other side of the hallway. Blaine slowed and turned to face the Slytherin girl. “What's up, Anderson? You look glum. Did you and your Lady friend call it quits?”

Blaine rolled his eyes. “No, Santana. Kurt and I did not break up. I thought I asked you to leave my love life alone,” he said in a pointed tone.

“Semantics,” she replied, linking her arm in his. “You're eating lunch with me today so we can get this all straightened out with Lady Hummel.”

At those words, Blaine panicked. He knew he needed to talk to Kurt, but he didn't want to do it in the Great Hall and make a scene again. Quickly sliding his arm out of Santana's, he said, “Sorry, Santana, I can't. I've got plans to help Marley with the rounds for next week, and we can't reschedule. Talk to you soon!” he called as he backed away from the Great Hall.

Blaine ran up the stairs towards Marley's  last class before lunch,  hoping to catch her before she  reached the Hall. As luck would have it, he nearly  pushed Marley down  a flight of stairs in his rush to find her . “Marley!” he exclaimed. H is c heeks  were  flushed from dashing up the stairs,  and his robes  were  askew.

“Blaine!” she said, worried  by his panicked appearance . “What's going on?” Blaine panted a little, trying to catch his breath.

“Marley, I've got a really big favor to ask you,” he began. “Santana told me she wanted to eat lunch with me and Kurt so the three of us could sort everything out, but I don't want to make another scene in the Hall and keep the rumor mill going, so I may have told her that I already said I'd have lunch with you so we could go over the prefect rounds, which means you can't have lunch in the Hall otherwise Santana's going to know I'm a dirty rotten liar, and I'll never be able to escape her,” he said, out of breath.

Marley smiled at him. “You really don't know what you're doing, do you Blaine?” she said fondly. “Alright,  let's go hole up in the common room and ask one of the elves to bring us something to eat.”

“Thank you so much, Marley. I owe you one,” Blaine said, shoulders sagging in relief. “I just can't face Kurt and Santana when they're together, and I don't really want to get into a fight with either of them in front of everyone again and everyone's still talking about last night and Sam's not being supportive and I _love_ Kurt, okay! I love him! I really do, why can't anyone understand that!”

“Take a deep breath, Blaine,” Marley said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “We'll get this sorted out.”

***

Blaine and Marley spent the rest of the afternoon curled up in the Hufflepuff common room. Ten minutes into lunch, Blaine's breathing still hadn't returned to normal, so Marley had suggested they skip their last two classes in favor of relaxing by the fire with chocolate covered strawberries. Blaine had recounted the story of Santana's ambush and Kurt's attitude with a copious amount of commentary that hardly failed to have their sides hurting from the laughter.

“You know,” Blaine began, grabbing another strawberry for himself. “I was going to tell Kurt something that day we fought in the Great Hall.”

Marley raised her eyebrows to show her interest, biting into another strawberry. “Oh really? What was it, if you don't mind me asking?” she replied.

Blaine waved his hand. “I don't mind at all,” he answered. “It wasn't romantic or anything, it was just that I'd found this _amazing_ room while I was casing our new route for the rounds Quinn assigned us. It was so cool! It was just there, and Quinn hadn't marked it down on her maps, so I'm not sure if she knew it was there or not. But when I went back later, it wasn't there! It just disappeared Marley! One day it's there, the next day it's gone. And it was such a beautiful room,” he said with a sigh.

“Oh, Marley, I loved it so much. Polished wood floors and green draperies, and there was a Yamaha piano there too, just like the one I've got at home! It was so perfect, and I was so excited to tell Kurt all about it because I knew he'd love it too, but he just blew me off. I mean, I was kind of late to dinner, but he didn't even want to hear why!” Blaine exclaimed, taking another strawberry off of the plate and biting into it harshly. Marley laughed as the strawberry fell apart in his hand, the juices staining his robe sleeves.

“That's not very considerate,” she said after they'd calmed down. “I mean I know he's older than you and you've been dating for a while, but still. My mom always said that the key to a relationship is communication. Kurt's not really listening to you. I know that this is the last thing you want to hear, but maybe you should take a step back from your relationship with Kurt. I'll support you no matter what decision you make, but I don't want to see you suffer.”

Blaine paused. He knew what Marley said was logical; in fact, it was probably what Santana and Sam were trying to tell him when they had confronted him. “I think,” he said softly. “I think that I'll stay with him. And if it gets worse, and if he really doesn't listen to me, then I'll tell him that I want to take a break. But we could all be overreacting. I mean, Kurt is a seventh year, after all. He's probably just really worried about everything.”

Marley nodded. “That sounds okay. But the minute he does something—”

“I will leave him,” Blaine finished. Marley smiled in response.

“Great! Now come on, we've got half a plate of strawberries left and thirty minutes before the last classes finish! Let's get to work!” she said playfully. Blaine grinned, grabbing another strawberry and taking a hefty bite out of it.

Maybe Sebastian was right; maybe he just needed to vent to someone. He probably wouldn't have that problem if he could just find the piano room again.

“Marley,” Blaine said, an idea forming in his head.

“Yes, Blaine?” she said, wiping the juice away from her mouth.

“Would you help me find the piano room again? I want to find it again. I know it's got to be somewhere on the seventh floor, but I don't know where, and you know the layout of the school just as well as I do,” he told her.

“Of course I'd help you, Blaine,” she answered. “But I think we need someone else's help too. I mean, we are only prefects, so we really only know the areas of the school people are supposed to be in. I think we need to ask someone who... doesn't have the same respect for authority we do,” she suggested.

“So you want us to ask one of the people we always catch out after curfew for help?” he said, cocking his head to the side.

“Precisely!” she said, her eyes lighting up. “And I've got just the man in mind. He's been around the school a lot, and everyone knows he knows Hogwarts front and back.” She paused for dramatic effect, a small smirk coming to her lips, followed by a little giggle. Blaine motioned at her to keep going; he knew if she started laughing, it would be another five minutes before he could get an answer out of her.

“Sebastian Smythe.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! For Alex, who is a wonderful test subject and who deserves more for suffering through my draft writings! As always, feel free to comment or send me questions at lambicpentametre.tumblr.com!


	4. The Inquisitive Expedition

_“So you want us to ask one of the people we always catch out after curfew for help?” he said, cocking his head to the side._

_“Precisely!” she said, her eyes lighting up. “And I've got just the man in mind. He's been around the school a lot, and everyone knows he knows Hogwarts front and back.” She paused for dramatic effect, a small smirk coming to her lips, followed by a little giggle. Blaine motioned at her to keep going; he knew if she started laughing, it would be another five minutes before he could get an answer out of her._

_“Sebastian Smythe.”_

“No. You've got to be kidding me.”

Blaine must have been hearing things because he almost swore that Marley had just suggested he ask  _Sebastian Smythe_  for help.

Marley threw her arms up in the air. “Come on Blaine!” she exclaimed. “It's perfect. Sebastian knows exactly how to get around the school without getting caught, he must know something about your disappearing room! And if he doesn't, then I'm sure he knows someone who does.”

“Absolutely not, Marley!” Blaine cried. “I can't ask Sebastian Smythe of all people to help me find a disappearing room! What will people say? Sebastian's got a reputation, one that will definitely not work in my favor here. Kurt already hates Sebastian, and we fought about my being Sebastian's partner in Potions. I don't need to give my boyfriend a reason to think that I'm actually cheating on him by traipsing about the school with the guy who flirts with me constantly!”

Marley gave him a mischievous look. “Who ever said that Kurt had to know?”

“Marley Rose!” Blaine shrieked, rising to his knees. “That's even worse! What if he finds out? What if people tell him? It'll run the rumor mill for the rest of the year, Marley! And school's just begun!”

“Blaine, calm down,” Marley said, placing her hands on Blaine's shoulders. “You can't argue that the logic is solid. Sebastian knows what's going on around the school. You want to find your room. We tell Sebastian keep quiet, or we'll give him detention for that one time I turned him loose when I found him in the fourth floor broom closet. Kurt never finds out, you get your room, and I get to threaten Sebastian. It's a win-win-win situation, really,” she reasoned.

Blaine paused for a minute, thinking about Marley's suggestion. On one hand, if Kurt found out, it would be the end of their relationship. On the other, he could find his room again. If Kurt found out, he could hide in his piano room. But if Kurt found out before he found the room again, he'd be in a sticky situation. But if Kurt found out and fought with him, then it would give Blaine more time to search for the piano room as he avoided Kurt.

“Okay,” Blaine said tentatively. “Let's go find Sebastian.” Marley squealed and threw her arms around Blaine's neck.

“Oh, Blaine, this is going to be such a wonderful adventure!” she cried.

“Alright, Marley,” he said, untangling her arms from around his neck. “Calm down. Where do we start?”

She smiled, a sly grin that Blaine found to be jarring on Marley's innocent features. “Why, we go to the one place everyone knows Sebastian is,” she explained.

“The third floor broom closet?” Blaine asked, confused.

Marley smacked his arm. “No, you dummy. The Quidditch pitch!”

Blaine couldn't believe what he was hearing. First Marley suggested they seek Sebastian Smythe's help, now she was saying they needed to hike down to the Quidditch pitch in the dismal weather of Scotland too? What had the world come to when Marley Rose, the most innocent girl he knew, was telling him to cavort with Slytherins?

“Come on, Blaine! Stop dragging your feet!” Marley said, halfway out of the Hufflepuff common room. “We've got a mission!” Blaine pushed himself off of the floor, grabbing his jacket and running after Marley. She may have been a Hufflepuff, but she had the enthusiasm of a Gryffindor when she set her mind to something. Never let it be said that Blaine would ever want to get in her way when she was busy.

Marley was running almost fifty paces ahead of Blaine by the time they made it down to the Quiddtich pitch fifteen minutes later. Her hair was swinging in the wind behind her and her smile was bright, which Blaine found nearly impossible; the pace that she'd been keeping up had him nearly breathless in the cold, damp air. She reached the entrance to the pitch long before he did. If doing night rounds in the castle with Marley had taught Blaine one thing, it was that it was far easier to let her go ahead and catch up with her later.

The Slytherin Quidditch team held a monopoly on the pitch; they'd won the Quidditch Cup for years now, and they'd nearly beaten all the teams into submission. Hufflepuff's team certainly wasn't going to attack Slytherin for not allowing them fair practice time, since it would only come to bite them in the butt when it came time for the matches. Blaine knew that the team captain wouldn't react well to having Hufflepuffs coming to practice, but Marley had a plan, and he was willing to try it out. Blaine looked to Marley once before they entered the pitch, searching her face for any sign of uncertainty. She rolled her eyes in response and linked her arm in his, striding into the pitch confidently.

It took about two minutes for the Slytherins to realize there was someone else on the field. They froze almost instantaneously, and Blaine found it slightly terrifying how synchronized they were. He could pick out Sebastian, who appeared to be having a conversation with the captain thirty meters in the air.

“What are you doing here?” Hunter Clarington asked, his tone threatening. “We don't allow spies to attend our practices.”  
  
Marley straightened her back and held her head high. “Why don't you come down here and talk to us then? We don't want to be here anymore than you want us here,” she called out. Hunter's shoulders sagged in annoyance, and he flew down quickly, landing barely a meter in front of Blaine.

“What do you want, 'Puff?” Hunter said menacingly. It was clear he was trying to intimidate them into submission, but Marley was having none of it.

“We're here to speak with Sebastian Smythe,” Marley declared, her tone just as determined as Hunter's. “I'd like to have a few words with him about his nocturnal activities in the halls of Hogwarts. The prefects have found him out of bed enough times that he may have to come before the Heads of House.”

Hunter swore under his breath and turned his head sharply to look at his team, who were all still floating high in the air. “That little bastard lied to me,” he said, his head swiveling back to face Marley and Blaine. “He told me you weren't here for him.”

“Well his character doesn't exactly have the most integrity right now, does it?” Marley asked, putting her hands on her hips.

Hunter rolled his eyes before turning to face the field again. “Smythe! Get your ass down here!” Sebastian hesitated a moment before flying down to the ground, touching down by Hunter.

“What did I do?” Sebastian asked, his stance conveying his annoyance.

“Well I don't know,” Hunter said in a condescending voice. “Why don't you tell me? Either clean up your act or you're off first string,” he said, smacking Sebastian up the head. With that, Hunter stalked away towards his broom and began barking orders out to the team again.

A cocky smile found its way to Sebastian's lips “Not that I don't love an excuse to escape Hunter's dictatorship, but what did I do now?” he repeated.

Marley crossed her arms over her chest, matching Sebastian's attitude. “You owe me one, Smythe. I wasn't lying when I told Clarington that you had been caught out of bed enough times to be brought before the Heads. I just neglected to tell him that the Head Girl wasn't aware of this fact, and you're going to keep it that way because you're going to help us, or I'm going to tell Quinn just how many times I've found you out of bed,” she told him.

Sebastian looked impressed. “I didn't think you had it in you, Rose,” he said. “Blackmailing a Slytherin is impressive, but what would you have me do under your thumb? I rather hope it's not something unsavory.”

“I doubt it would strain your intellect,” Marley replied. “We need your help finding a disappearing room.”

“A disappearing room?” Sebastian said incredulously. “You want my help finding a disappearing room? How in the name of Merlin do you expect me to find something like that?”

“Because who else knows the castle better than you? You've been in every single broom closet there is at least three times over. You probably know them better than Filch does,” Blaine deadpanned, unaware that he was even speaking. Sebastian and Marley were looking at him as if he'd just grown a third head.

“What?” he replied. “I'm not wrong, and we all know it. That's why we're here and not somewhere else, anyway.”

Sebastian pursed his lips for a minute. “Alright, I'll do it. But only because Blaine here seems to be all tied up about it,” he said with a smirk. “You have a place to start?”

At this, Marley grinned. “Of course. The seventh floor corridor on the left hand side.”

Sebastian stiffened. “You know the room we're speaking of?” Blaine inquired, eager to find answers.

“No,” Sebastian replied slowly. “No, I've got no idea what you're talking about. I'm sorry, but there are no closets of any sort around that part of the castle. I can't help you. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back up in the air before Hunter comes down here to gut me with my own broom.” With that, Sebastian spun on his heel, grabbed his broom, and kicked off into the air, leaving Blaine and Marley behind him.

Blaine's shoulders sagged. “Well that was completely useless,” he said. Marley patted his back sympathetically.

“I'm sorry, Blaine,” she said, laying her head on his shoulder. “Why don't we go back up to the castle and ask the elves for some hot chocolate?” Blaine nodded in response, taking Marley's hand and following her off of the field. It took them twice as long to get back up to the castle as it had to get to the Quidditch pitch, and Blaine was bone-tired. Marley had steered him back to the Great Hall nearly on autopilot, and there was no denying he was upset about Sebastian declining to help them find his room. He had no idea how he could hope to find it again.

Blaine hardly noticed Marley sitting him down on one of the benches at the Hufflepuff table until she placed a steaming mug of hot chocolate in front of him. “Drink up, Blaine,” Marley said. “You look a bit pale.” He pushed the mug away, knowing he couldn't stomach the decadent drink.

“I think I'm just going to head to bed, Marley,” Blaine said quietly. “Thanks for everything, but I just don't feel good right now.” Marley cocked her head in concern.

“If you're sure,” she began. He nodded lightly, the corners of his lips turning up ever so slightly.

“Yeah, I think I'll just get some sleep and deal with the room tomorrow,” he said. “Give my love to Kurt and Sam?”

“Of course,” Marley replied with a smile. Blaine nodded once more before turning on his heel and heading out of the Great Hall. He must have had amazing luck, because he didn't run into anyone on his way back to the Hufflepuff common room. Either that, or Santana had finally acted upon her words and had glared Kurt and Sebastian into submission. Given today's turn of events, he wouldn't have been surprised to find out that Marley had been the one intimidating Slytherin boys rather than Santana.

Everything would look better in the morning.

He hoped.

*****

As he did every weekend, Blaine woke up at 8:00 in the morning to beat the rest of his roommates to the bathroom. He found himself in the Great Hall long before it filled up; the tables weren't even a quarter full. Sitting himself down at his usual place at the Hufflepuff table, he began to gather his breakfast before his plate was slid out from underneath his nose. Across the table, Marley had a finger on Blaine’s half empty plate and a small smile on her face.

“Hey, Blaine,” she greeted. “Are we going room hunting again?”

“Marley,” Blaine said in an exasperated tone. “I’m really not in the mood.”

“Oh, come on, Blaine!” Marley exclaimed. “Where’s that Hufflepuff kindness? Where’s your sense of adventure?”

Blaine rolled his eyes. “First of all, Miss Rose,” he began, “you know very well it’s Hufflepuff  _loyalty_ , and I have very little tolerance for people who steal my breakfast.”

“Please, Blaine! Today’s a good day, I can feel it!” she replied. “I mean I know you’re not exactly having a good time with Kurt right now and you’re kind of avoiding him, and yesterday with Sebastian was like kind of super awkward, but today is a good day!”

“I’m not avoiding Kurt!” Blaine said indignantly, although he knew he had very little to back it up.

“Oh yeah?” Marley said, leaning in closer. “Why didn’t you tell me you and Kurt were having more problems? I went over to tell him you wouldn’t be at dinner, and he said something along the lines of ‘I’m surprised he’s even telling me where he is now.’ He didn’t seem too happy. He even looked like he wanted to talk to me after I went back to sit here, and he never wants to talk to me. I mean, Sebastian was kind of the same way, that is looking like he wanted to ask me about you, which makes sense since I was the last person he saw you with, but then he and Kurt got into a staring match and then Santana said something to Kurt and then he started glaring even  _more_ at Sebastian and Sebastian did that weird little smirking thing he does—”

“Marley!” Blaine interrupted. “You’re rambling again. What happened last night? What did Santana say?”

Marley, sheepish from Blaine’s interruption, leaned in a little farther so that her voice wouldn’t carry farther. “Apparently Santana saw us go down to the Quidditch pitch, or she heard it from Hunter or something like that. She told Kurt, and he took it the wrong way; he thought I was trying to set you up with Sebastian, like you were cheating on him, and he and Sebastian nearly got into a fight last night. It wasn’t anything big, but right after Santana talked to Kurt, these weird things started happening. Kurt’s dinner went moldy in half a minute. Sebastian’s hair turned bright purple. Little pranks like that, but nothing too serious. It looked like the Weasley twins had done a good number on the two of them, but no one could prove who had done it. Everyone knew it was just Kurt and Sebastian retaliating at each other, though.”

“Yeah?” Blaine replied, slightly intrigued. “And what about after that?”

Marley contemplated the question a minute before she continued. “Nothing, really. Kurt stormed out of the Great Hall as he’s been doing lately, and Sebastian sauntered out a few minutes later with a smug smile on his face like his hair wasn’t violet. I’m telling you, if something doesn’t happen soon, the entirety of Slytherin house is going to have to choose a side and there’s going to be hell to pay. Are you sure you don’t want to talk to Kurt about this? Or maybe tell Sebastian to back off again? He seemed to listen to you at the start—”

Marley was once again interrupted in the middle of her sentence, this time by one of the school owls, which had dropped a small envelope in between Blaine and her. There wasn't anything particularly remarkable about the envelope. There wasn't a name that indicated who had sent it or any indication that it had come from a person at all. It read  _Blaine Anderson_  in a neat and elegant script on the front, written in green ink. Marley and Blaine took one moment to look at it before Blaine grabbed the envelope as she tried to get a closer look from across the table. Upon opening the envelope, Blaine found one small piece of paper inside. The green script that had been used for Blaine's name was also used for the note, which read:

 

 _Go to the seventh floor in front of the tapestry. Walk in front of it three times and think about the room. The door will be behind the tapestry._

 

“Door? Room? Is this about the piano room?” Marley said, confusion evident in her voice.

Blaine was too shocked to respond; he hadn't been expecting to find the answer he was searching for so quickly. He grabbed his robes and a piece of toast before tearing out of the Great Hall towards the staircases. By the time he made it to the seventh floor, he was nearly breathless, but he couldn't care less. Blaine jogged up to the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy and, walking in front of it three times, thought about the wonderful room he had found before. The details of the drapes and piano, the floors and windows, all came flooding back to him. He took one deep breath, stretched out his hand, and moved the tapestry aside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I apologize for being so late with the update. Thanks to Alex for continuously pushing me to finish the chapter. As always, feel free to comment or send me questions at my writing blog, lambicpentametre.tumblr.com! I post some concept writings for fics there in addition to Piano Man updates. Happy Thanksgiving!


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